My philosophy is simple: Clients are the experts on their lives. I blend compassion and faith with life experiences and effective psychological tools to help individuals recover from their struggles. I provide a safe place to work through their difficulties. My driving desire is to help clients gain control and experience real hope again. Whether with couples struggling in relationships, individuals with addictions, grief and loss issues, chronic pain issues, or other mental health conditions, there is hope. I endeavor to guide clients into a recovery filled with hope and power.
Clients will get to know me as their therapist, but also have ample opportunity to share their issues and problems, hopes and concerns about counseling, and get a jump start on how they can begin to overcome what has hindered them. They will be allowed the freedom to assess me as their therapist while I am assessing them and their problems to hopefully determine a good fit and for them to learn what the process will be going forward.
I am a short term, solution-focused Christian therapist at heart, holding to the belief that some mental health and life issues are more in need of a thorough assessment and then concrete solutions and suggestions to be implemented quickly rather than long term counseling, though some problems take longer to improve and some suggested techniques take longer to learn and become effective. My expertise is cognitive behavioral to include identifying negative thoughts and subsequent behaviors, learning and practicing new skills, goal setting, and problems solving. I also utilize dialectical behavior therapy to include mindfulness, distress tolerance, and emotional regulation. I use these clinically proven psychological tools, coupled with a biblical perspective on client's issues and possible solutions,. With these, I help clients to form an effective counseling strategy, monitor their implementation of techniques, assess their progress, and facilitate change in the strategy as needed.
My ideal clients are individuals or couples struggling in their life with marital relationship or parenting issues, depression, anxiety, PTSD, bipolar disorder, low self esteem, addiction, or just life issues in general who want concrete solutions to their problems and a real hope things can improve.
Christian Counseling
I am a straightforward counselor who holds to the belief that you are the expert about your life. I blend compassion and faith with proven psychological tools. Working together, I help you to identify your issues and your strengths, determine how to incorporate those strengths into your life to make the changes you want, and then monitor your progress.
Cognitive Behavioral (CBT)
I utilize several techniques of cognitive behavioral therapy as an effective type of short-term therapy because it works on the connections between your thoughts, emotions, and behaviors, allowing patients to better understand those connections, make better choices, and recover. Some of these techniques include Cognitive restructuring, journaling, relaxation and breathing techniques, and role playing.
Couples Counseling
I utilize the 40 years of martial counseling experience provided by the Gottman Method coupled with my own personal 27 years of marital experience and Christian faith to help couples identify their complex relationship problems clearly, to provide suggestions on needed change, encourage intentional action for change, and monitor progress.
Strength-Based
I hold a simple perspective on counseling; you are the expert about your life. I am a straightforward counselor who helps to identify your issues and your strengths, determine how to incorporate your strengths into your life to make the changes you want, and then monitor your progress.
Solution Focused Brief Treatment
I hold the belief that many life struggles faced by individuals in today's world can be addressed with a relatively short period of therapeutic intervention by a caring, informed, and compassionate professional. For many clients, my job is to work myself out of a job with them...to educate them and provide appropriate clinical suggestions for behavioral change, send them out to implement the suggestions in making the needed changes, and encourage them to return for additional help if needed.